Incompatible: the Construction of the Homosexual Subject in American Mainline Protestantism
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Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 2011 Incompatible: The Construction of the Homosexual Subject in American Mainline Protestantism John Joseph Anderson Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss Part of the Gender and Sexuality Commons Recommended Citation Anderson, John Joseph, "Incompatible: The Construction of the Homosexual Subject in American Mainline Protestantism" (2011). Dissertations. 142. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/142 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 2011 John Joseph Anderson LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO “INCOMPATIBLE”: THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE HOMOSEXUAL SUBJECT IN AMERICAN MAINLINE PROTESTANTISM A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM IN THEOLOGY BY JOHN J. ANDERSON CHICAGO, IL DECEMBER 2011 Copyright by John J. Anderson, 2011 All rights reserved. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Throughout the process of researching, writing, re-writing, and re-re-writing, I have often thought to myself, “It takes a village to finish a dissertation.” I would be remiss if I did not pause to thank the many friends, family, colleagues and institutions that make up my village. I would first like to thank the members of my dissertation committee for their generous and constructive commentary on my project. My advisor, Susan Ross, offered guidance at each phase of my dissertation that helped move it from its inception to its final defense. I am also indebted to my other committee members, Patti Jung and Aana Vigen, whose many invaluable insights helped hone and clarify my argument. In all, my committee created an environment that was rigorous, constructive and tension-free. I have learned a great deal from each of them, much more than the pages of this dissertation can convey. In addition to my committee, I would also like to thank the many other faculty and staff members and my fellow graduate students of the Loyola Theology Department for the support I received during my time there. A special thanks is owed to Catherine Wolf, the department’s office coordinator, for leading me through all the policies and procedures that are part and parcel of any institution. I was fortunate to participate in the 2011 Seminar on Religion and Sexuality Debates at Harvard Divinity School. Mark Jordan, who organized and hosted the iii seminar, encouraged me in my work and provided advice as to the future development of my project. I also must thank my fellow seminar participants for their feedback and many words of support, and I look forward to reading in published form the great work that they are doing. Also, I thank the Ford Foundation for its generous support of the seminar. I could not have done without the support of my family. I am so grateful for the value my parents always placed on my education and the freedom they gave me to discover my passions in life. My wife Kelly contributed to my dissertation in more ways than I can count. Without the sacrifices she made to provide me the time and space to read, think, and write, finishing this dissertation would not have been possible. And on those days when finishing seemed a Sisyphean task, her support and belief in me kept me moving forward. And I must thank my son Ashley, who was born in the middle of this process. His many, many attempts to unplug my laptop from the wall reminded me to take a break now and then. More importantly, he showed me each day that life is beautiful and made my dissertation-related grumblings seem petty in comparison to the joy of watching him grow. Lastly, I thank the many queer Christians who, with courage and integrity, have opposed the violence committed against them in the name of religion. It is an honor to stand in solidarity with them in the pursuit of justice. iv For my wife Kelly TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iii ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER ONE: SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND ORDINATION IN AMERICAN MAINLINE PROTESTANTISM.....................................................................................1 A Brief Note on Historical Context ..................................................................................9 “Practice” and “Avowal” as Linguistic Axes of the Analysis ........................................12 Theoretical and Ethical Starting Points ..........................................................................17 Incompatible Subjects: A (Hetero)Sexual Theology of Contradictions .........................26 CHAPTER TWO: MICHEL FOUCAULT: THE PRODUCTION OF SUBJECTS / THE CREATION OF SELVES ..............................................................................................29 Archaeology and Genealogy: From Discourse to the Body ...........................................34 Prohibition and the Production of Individuals................................................................58 Confession, Avowal, and the “Truth” of Sexuality ........................................................65 Foucault and the Development of Queer Theory............................................................71 The Limits of Foucault for Christian Ethics ...................................................................77 CHAPTER THREE: THE BODY AND THE DIVINE....................................................81 The Origins and Objectives of Body Theology ..............................................................84 The Body as a Source of Relationality ...........................................................................94 The Body as a Source of Theological and Moral Imagination .....................................100 A Caveat for Theologians of Embodiment ...................................................................108 Integrating Foucault and Body Theology .....................................................................115 CHAPTER FOUR: THE RHETORIC OF HOMOSEXUAL PRACTICE .....................117 The Separation/Conflation of Identity and Conduct in Secular Law and Society........123 The Separation/Conflation of Identity and Conduct in Christian Theology.................129 The Separation/Conflation of Identity and Conduct in Mainline Protestantism ..........135 Homosexual Practice and the Protestant Conscience ...................................................161 Foucault, Body Theology, and the Rhetoric of Homosexual Practice..........................172 CHAPTER FIVE: COMING OUT UNDER THE PROHIBITION OF HOMOSEXUAL PRACTICE ...................................................................................................................179 The Spiritual and Theological Significance of Coming Out ........................................188 Self-Avowal in Denominational Policies and Court Proceedings ................................196 Coming Out Under Prohibition.....................................................................................209 Coming Out as Protest and Resistance .........................................................................221 Conclusion: Language, Theological Ethics, and Sexual Subjectivity ..........................223 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................234 vi VITA................................................................................................................................253 vii ABSTRACT Many American mainline Protestant denominations discriminate against gays and lesbians or have discriminated against them in recent history by denying ordination to “self-avowed practicing homosexuals.” This dissertation analyzes such ordination policies and their enforcement in ecclesial courts in three denominations, the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Moving from a theoretical framework that integrates Michel Foucault’s theories of discourse and subjectivity with Christian body theology, this dissertation argues that the language of the “self-avowed practicing homosexual” discursively produces a homosexual subject that does violence to gays and lesbians in these churches. The rhetoric of homosexual practice functions in a way that condemns the homosexual person even as it claims to condemn only homosexual acts. The language of avowal intervenes in the coming out experience of gays and lesbians by placing one’s coming out in the context of the prohibition of homosexual practice (and personhood). Coming out, then, is an admission of guilt that defines the homosexual as incompatible with ordained ministry and the Christian faith. By placing gays and lesbians in this situation, the rhetoric of the “self-avowed practicing homosexual” is no more than a self- fulfilling prophecy: it produces the homosexual subject that it claims merely to identify, thereby creating the terms under which gays and lesbians are found culpable. viii CHAPTER ONE SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND ORDINATION IN AMERICAN MAINLINE PROTESTANTISM